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Masters Road Nationals 2010--Louisville again
Fri, 07/10/2009 - 9:40am
USAC announced that the 2010 Masters Road Nats are going to be in Louisville, KY again. This will be the third year in a row in Louisiville. And the fifth year in a row in the Eastern Time Zone.
While I admit that Louisiville did a very good job with the event this year and made improvements from last year, it is time for the event to move west. Masters will have moved up at least one age category during the time the event has been in the east.
We have many of the strongest masters racers here in the west, between the Norcal and Socal districts and deserve to be able to have the opportunity to race closer to home more than once every 6 years. I would suggest that we make our voices heard in this regard.
Tom Vinson is the National Events Manager at USAC. You can email him at tvinson@usacycling.org
I gather from my conversation with Mr. Vinson that USAC feels that they do not have anyone in the west at this moment who can adequately do the job well for this event. And this may be true. I am just calling for ideas on this part of it. Combine the event with Elite Nats in Bend? Is there someone somewhere who has the ability to promote an event of this caliber and wants to take on this event?
Soni
GFMeilahn wrote:Despite a low percentage of masters from NCNCA, our region still earned 15 podiums.
Out of how many total podium positions? The national champion jersey is probably Voler's biggest production run of the year.
USAC needs willing promoters to step up and voluntarily commit themselves to championships. USAC would love to be able to pick and choose from a huge assortment of bidders but pickings are slim - for good reasons.
Those significant entry fees for your championships? $85 for Masters, Elites, U-23's etc. They do not go towards event revenues to pay for operations - they go to USAC. This means in a challenging economy promoters/organizers need to find other means to pay for all the requirements - sanitation, traffic control, permits, security, etc. At Masters this year entry fees should have amounted to more than $120K - did you get much racing experience for that? There were 1,400+ athletes registered - did USAC spend $120K on your championships? Ask yourselves if you would risk a financial bubble bath by taking on a huge commitment with a large part of potential revenue off limits.
Tom Simpson
Pilarcitos Cyclesports
Tom Simpson - Pilarcitos Cyclesports
The National Events Director has received his share of emails from me today. I kept sending him ideas as they came up and stressing why this was such an important issue. And he was very polite and understanding and responsive. So this is the last email I got from him:
Soni,
I have a plan. Will let everyone know when it is in place and ready to execute.
Tom
Don't know what that means, but I'm feeling a bit more optimistic and quite intrigued.
Despite a low percentage of masters from NCNCA, our region still earned 15 podiums. Gold= 4, Silver= 5, Fourth= 2, Fifth= 4 :) And there were at least that many from SCNCA, our neighbor to the south.
Lets' face it, the fields at masters nats aren't truly representative of the best racers in the nation. Airfares are absulutely prohibitive for many racers. And how many times can they expect westerners to go to Louisville and race in east coast conditions?
It seems from the results this year that the detriment to west coasties is profound. We see only a couple of westies in each field, at most. Meanwhile, east coast pack fodder are disproportionately represented.
In fairness, the race should alternate coasts each year or second year. Besides, our weather and altitude are conducive to a true test of ability (vs. acclimatization).
Footnote: I suppose this is as good a time as any to note that of the ~12 road racers in Napa Valley, two are wearing Stars and Stripes (Roemer and Lyman) and two are wearing the Bear (LaBerges). Perhaps we should just save people the trouble of travelling and have the masters' championships (and the jerseys) reside permanently in Napa.
In 2003, the time trial was rather hilly as well, but the crit was dead flat!Are they using the same courses in 2010 AND will it conflict with Junior Track Nationals (as it did this year)?
I am soooooooooooooo bummed to hear that. :(
I was so looking forward to:
1) Driving not flying to nationals.
2) Not having to take a whole week off from work.
3) A course with a hill longer than 55 seconds.
I had fun in Louisville, but not sure if I want to go through the hassle again to race on a course without any real hills.
Chris
http://twitter.com/cpbike